[JURIST] Israel's Knesset [official website, in Hebrew] approved legislation on Monday to grant immunity to approximately 400 protesters involved in violent protests in connection with the 2005 removal [JURIST report] of settlers in the Gaza Strip [JURIST news archive]. The amnesty measure, which passed by a vote of 51-9 [Haaretz
[read more]

[JURIST] The French parliamentary commission charged with investigating whether to enact laws banning the wearing of burqas [JURIST news archive] or other "full veils" released its report [text, PDF; in French] Tuesday calling for a partial ban. The panel urged a ban [Al Jazeera report] that would apply in public
[read more]

[JURIST]The Supreme Court of California [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-2 Monday to authorize the use of "John Doe" arrest warrants, which replace an unknown suspect's name with his or her DNA profile as the unique identifier. Prosecutors have increasingly been using these warrants as a means of satisfying the
[read more]

[JURIST] A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside of the Forsenics Lab of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior's Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday, killing 21 people and injuring at least 80 others. The building collapsed [Al Jazeera report] shortly after the attack, which comes one day after a wave
[read more]

[JURIST] A Chinese court Tuesday sentenced four more people to death in connection with the July Xinjiang riots [JURIST news archive]. The Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi sentenced eight others to life in prison and one to the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, which is usually commuted to life
[read more]

[JURIST] The US Department of Transportation (DOT) [official website] announced Tuesday a federal ban on texting while driving [press release] for commercial truck and bus drivers. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood [official profile] said [remarks] that the prohibition will take effect immediately. Drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be
[read more]

[JURIST] A Russian court on Monday awarded an HIV-positive woman custody of her younger brother. Svetlana Izambayeva sought custody rights [RIA Novosti report] in February after her mother's death left the boy orphaned, but was denied by a city court because of her HIV status. On appeal, the Supreme Court
[read more]

[JURIST] Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll [official website] agreed on Monday to drop efforts to retry 46 juveniles whose original convictions were overturned [JURIST report] because they had been issued by a judge indicted on federal corruption charges for an alleged kickback scheme. In October, the Supreme Court
[read more]

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Canadian Competition Bureau [official websites] reached an agreement on Monday to allow the merger [press release] between Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. and Live Nation, Inc. [corporate websites]. The two companies agreed to the 10-year settlement terms set by the DOJ and the
[read more]

[JURIST] The Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) war crimes court [official website] confirmed [press release] on Monday that three former Bosnian Serb policemen have been indicted on charges of genocide for their alleged roles in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archives]. Dusko Jevic served as
[read more]